₦airaland Forum

Many people seem to think that they have what it takes to run a successful business if only they have the capital but I think otherwise! I believe most people will simply squander the money away one way or another.

Here’s a simple proposal to see if you can outline a credible plan to repay a loan on time with interest.

You have a choice between getting a loan for $1,000,000 @ 7% OR $100k @ 8% for 5 years.


The rules are very simple:

1. You have to make a payment on the first of every month for 5 years (re-payment term).

2. Failure to make any payment will result in your extremities being cut off at a joint. For example, if you miss the first payment, your wrist will be cut off, then followed by your elbow, shoulder, ankle, knee, hip, etc until you have no limbs left.

3. If you got the $1M loan, you will pay NGN 3.1 million ($19,801.20) every 1st of the month for 5 years.

4. If you got the $100k loan, you will pay NGN 317,427 ($2027.64) every 1st of the month for 5 years.

You obviously cannot just sit on the money because you will owe more than the principal and more importantly, the loan is an opportunity to set you up for life.

Let’s see your credible money making proposal!

Not trying to turn this horrible experience into a political statement but I believe the solution is having a State Police. Why?

1. Each State can devote as much resources as they deem necessary to policing efforts.
2. Police needs to be paid a higher wage based on what the local community or area can afford so that they can attract a more professional personnel.
3. Police will have a sense of ownership to an area which will make them more effective.
4. Any Police commander to an area will have to answer to the governor directly for non-performance.
5. The Police will have a better local knowledge of troublemakers in the area.
6. Each state will be responsible for funding the Police freeing the federal government to invest in the federal police force.
7. More jobs for unemployed graduates.

With regards to the issue of having a state police under the control of a governor, the answer is pretty simple: separation of powers already contained in the constitution. Whenever there's any conflict or issue between a state police and the Federal Police, the Federal Police is deemed to have jurisdiction or superiority.

What needs to happen is for the Federal government (legislatures) to write the rules that govern how a Police force can be created, the structure of such a force, its hierarchy, minimum standards, demarcated boundaries and how a police can pursue crime across a boundary, etc.

Lastly, if a State police can’t be authorized then guns should be legalized because, at the very least, one has the option of dying on his knees or dying protecting his loved ones! Property can be replaced if stolen but can you imagine the agony of being present when your loved one is being r.aped without being able to do anything and then killed on top of it?

Nobody wants to die but if I’m going to die, the last place I want to be is faced down on the ground begging for my life!

platinumricky: Those turners look evil,especially the grey one @wallie: how abt converting the thread to a
SEMA image gallery thread so that we can see the show cars? Its just an idea though.

Will do!

Siena: The rear diffuser on the grey Vortech car is pretty much what I'm constructing on my Audi A4.

Do you fabricate and weld in your garage also? There are so many things that I want to do but just don’t have the time and skills!

You also have to take the people with zero income into consideration as they bring the average amount spent per family per day down! Keep in mind that the $1 figure is the average spent across all families and that equates to an average income of NGN57,326 per family.

Also, isn't the often quoted figure $2?

A car built for the Scion FR-S Tuner Challenge...

Another set...

Pictures taken at a SEMA event...


Be careful clicking on the link if you have a slow internet connection because it is picture heavy!
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20983

sultaan: The BRZ and it sclone will have to contend with a cheaper and more powerful Focus ST http://www.ford.com/cars/focus/focusst/

But then there is the Hyundai Genesis Coupe R-Spec.

Until their Turbo version hit the market, its going to be a bumpy ride

See the link below for FR-S vs Genesis Coupe R Spec.

http://www.autoguide.com/car-comparisons/2013-scion-frs-vs-2013-hyundai-genesis-coupe-20t-rspec-2103.html

Hmmm....I've not seen anything to support hurricane hitting Lagos (or even West Africa) after hitting the US. On the contrary, I see most hurricanes developing in the Atlantic closer to North Africa before heading towards America. If you have any particular year of hurricane or tropical cyclones hitting Lagos, I can look it up or you may do so yourself at: http://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/at2012.asp

Hopefully, the "research" below can shed more light on the topic. This will make a great doctoral thesis paper for a PhD candidate!

Igboland is the home of the Igbo people and it covers most of Southeast Nigeria. This area is divided by the Niger River into two unequal sections – the eastern region (which is the largest) and the midwestern region. The river, however, has not acted as a barrier to cultural unity; rather it has provided an easy means of communication in an area where many settlements claim different origins. The Igbos are also surrounded on all sides by other tribes (the Bini, Warri, Ijaw, Ogoni, Igala, Tiv, Yako and Ibibio).

The origins of the Igbo people has been the subject of much speculation, and it is only in the last fifty years that any real work has been carried out in this subject: like any group of people, they are anxious to discover their origin and reconstruct how they came to be how they are. ...their experiences under colonialsim and since Nigeria’s Independence have emphasized for them the reality of their group identity which they want to anchor into authenticated history. (Afigbo, A.E.. ‘Prolegomena to the study of the culture history of the Igbo-Speaking Peoples of Nigeria’, Igbo Language and Culture, Oxford University Press, 1975. 28.)

Analysis of the sources that are available (fragmentary oral traditions and correlation of cultural traits) have led to the belief that there exists a core area of Igboland, and that waves of immigrant communities from the north and west planted themselves on the border of this core area as early as the ninth century. This core area – Owerri, Orlu and Okigwi – forms a belt, and the people in this area have no tradition of coming from anywhere else. Migration from this area in the recent past tended to be in all directions, and in this way the Igbo culture gradually became homogenized. In addition to this pattern of migration from this core area, other people also entered the Igbo territory in about the fourteenth or fifteenth centuries. Many of these people still exhibit different characteristics from that of the traditional Igbos – for example geographical marginality, the institution of kingship, a hierarchical title system and the amosu tradition (witchcraft). For some time some Igbo-speaking peoples claimed that they were not Igbo – the word was used as a term of abuse for “less cultured” neighbours. The word is now used in three senses, to describe Igbo territory, domestic speakers of the language and the language spoken by them.(see (A.E. Afigbo,1981: Ropes of Sand, Caxton Press,Ibadan. and T. Shaw:1970; "Igbo Ukwu: An Account of Archaeological Discoveries in Eastern Nigeria", Faber and Faber, pp. 268-285).

The first contact between Igboland and Europe came in the mid-fifteenth century with the arrival of the Portuguese. From 1434-1807 the Niger coast acted as a contact point between African and European traders, beginning with the Portuguese, then the Dutch and finally the English. At this stage there was an emphasis on trade rather than empire building, in this case the trade consisting primarily of Igbo slaves. With the abolition of the slave trade in 1807 came a new trading era, concentrating on industry (palm products, timber, elephant tusks and spices). At this point the British began to combine aggressive trading with aggressive imperialism. They saw the hinterland as productive, and refused to be confined to the coast. In 1900 the area that had been administered by the British Niger Company became the Protectorate on Southern Nigeria, also incorporating what had been called the Niger Coast Protectorate. Control of this area then passed from the British Foreign Office to the Colonial Office. Long before it had officially been conquered, Igboland was being treated as a British colony. Between 1900 and 1914 (when Northern and Southern Nigeria were amalgamated) there had been twenty-one British military expeditions into Igboland. In 1928 for the first time in their history, Igbo men were made to pay tax – they were a subject people.

This attempt to take over political control of Igboland met with resistance and cultural protest in the early decades of the twentieth century. A nativistic religious movement sprang up (the ekumeku) which inspired short-lived but feverish messianic enthusiasm. The rumours that the Igbo women were being assessed for taxation, sparked off the 1929 Aba Riots, a massive revolt of women never encountered before in Igbo history. However, the engine of imperialism could not be stopped, and once it had begun, Igbo culture would never be the same again.

http://www.faculty.ucr.edu/~legneref/igbo/igbo1.htm

Fast forward to 1:07...same old stuff!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcDN409ZBv4

"Having money isn't everything, not having it is." Kanye

Before traveling abroad in the early 90s, I had fantasized about eating a whole roasted chicken by myself. Once abroad, one of the first few things I did with my money was to buy a whole roasted chicken. For whatever reason, the derived satisfaction I got didn't seem to match up with the cravings in my fantasy!

We tend to ascribe exaggerated worth to things of real/perceived value that we lack. As a person, I tend to desire and value things just out of reach than things within reach. It’s like a rat race; always trying to reach for the next step! Some might define that as having ambition but when does it end, if ever? Sounds like I’m ranting and off topic!

Anyway, I do agree with previous posters that money or what we perceive to lack is not everything!

[quote author=zyl_kenny]Lols
That's true Wallie. What kinda car do you drive? Maybe we could do a test run and giver nairalanders d results? Very educative posts from u tho[/quote]Thanks! Someday, maybe I will get the opportunity to bring motorsports and/or karting (not the play-play kind o) to naija but I'm sure people with more money will beat me to it.

platinumricky: The toyobaru BRZ/FRS twins are awesome additions to the small rwd coupe segment. They just need a lil more power to be very competitive in their class, toyota's TRD division should provide a performance package quickly..and another issue is the price; a fully loaded BRZ will creep into the price range of a base V8 ford mustang.
BMW co-developed some of the mini/1series engines with peugeot. I guess they Я changing their business strategy...they should produce an M7 to rival the mercedes s63 amg, develop a coupe based on the F01 7series platform to battle the MB CL-class and give it the 8series badge. And finally, stretch the X5 platform to build an X7, to rival the range rover and Mercedes GL.
*Hmmm, a bmw Z8 successor won't be a bad idea to rival the Mercedes SLS amg.

I do agree that the Toyobaru needs more power and relatively expensive for what you get. There's no logical reason that I can think of for BRZ to be more expensive than a WRX that has a bigger engine and also turbo charged! Fortunately for the twins, nothing directly competes with them either. The Cayman is way up market, the MX-5 has no roof plus it carries a stigma , the 128 is too heavy, the 370 is too heavy and expensive, the RX8 is too unlike the RX-7, the Mustang is too heavy and uninspiring in the V6 variant (V8 costs more money), etc.

I’ve been following the twins and tuners are already getting over 400 hp at the wheels on a stock engine with bigger injectors! That’s a crazy strong engine! I’m waiting to see what a BRZ STI will look like, if it ever comes. I’m dying for a new daily driver to drive to work.

I know very little about Peugeot since it's not sold in the US, plus it's French! I think "women" and "wine" when I hear French not cars.

I definitely think that the X5 should be stretched into a GL competitor because I would rather own a BMW. The GL is cool for what it is but I heard the new one got a lot better.

I really don't see the market for a CL competitor as I think that market is covered by the Gran Coupe, which is a 4-door 6 series that competes directly with the CLS.

Will BMW make a direct competitor to the SLS and R8? Probably not, but I think they're making a mistake in not having a halo car. Instead of competing directly, they decided to build an i8 hybrid car. Who the hell wants an hybrid? On the other hand, the SLS is not that spectacular except for looks but I guess the same could be said for the R8. In a couple of years, the SLS will make a great buy around $80k.

[quote author=zyl_kenny]I completely agree with you. That's why I said. "It depends in the conditions".
How many AVERAGE nigerian drives a TRUELY sports car? In real racing, you won't see a fwd car. But the AVERAGE nigerian would drive an AVERAGE car. Fuel economy, speed, safety and comfort are very important. FWD excels here. You want more power? Then go for RWD or AWD. That why mazda or acura didn't put up their FWD cars for such races. Instead they switch to other trims that have RWD or AWD.[/quote]Very true, although, we all like to believe that we're Michael Schumacher behind the wheel. On a side note, Peter Cuningham seems to be doing really well racing in GTS in a fwd Acura TSX with a 3.5 engine transplant. I think the bottom line with any car, with enough money and know-how you can negate any inherent deficiencies a platform presents. Understeer or oversteer can always be dialed out or mitigated against.

[quote author=zyl_kenny]You could be a little bit more polite with your post.
Quest is : rwd and fwd, which is better?
A lot of ppl have said d right things. Some are also wrong. When we make comparison, we need to state the terms. Are we referring to speed? Handling? Safety? Etc
Different cars and manufacturers excel in different aspects. A lot of ppl erroneously bliv that german cars are d best. Yes, maybe. IN THEORY! But have they actually MET each other on the track? Let them proof their worth. And when comparing, we compare cars with SIMILAR engines, SIMILAR displacement, SIMILAR power (like I stated earlier which IKENNA didn't have d time to notice). An LIVE example would be races. Where similar cars come together and ACTUALLY PROOF their worth. In races there are strict rules, strict conditions that must be adhered to. Eg wikipedia says. That mazda races in the GTA class of SCCA Pro Racing World Challenge. Which includes cars like audi, acura, lexus,BMW to mention but a few. C[b]ars have similar engines and power. Mazda6 finished FIRST in that competition despite the fact that they use "stop start" as opposed to "rolling starts" used in other races which is to FWD's disadvantage. Mazda6 also came 1st and second in touring driver races.[/b] en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda6#cite_note-2

....

That is not to say that other drive trains don't have their aspects of specialization, but personally, I'd go with FWD any day. They're generally safer too[/quote]Kenny, you're not seeing the entire picture. This is more of a race to determine better drivers than to determine better platforms. I say this because the series is set up to neutralize a winning platform. There's a reason why you will almost never see a FWD platform competing is races having cars with hp greater than 300.

Competition Adjustments: In order to keep the competition close within the Pirelli World Challenge series, competition adjustments will be made to a vehicle model when deemed necessary. Competition adjustments will primarily be done through adjustments to the base weight, the engine speed limit and/or the required restrictor size.

R.E.W.A.R.D.S. System: Rewarding of Equalizing Weight Assigned to Reduce Driver Sensitivity, referred to as “REWARDS Weight,” is a weight equalization system based on the addition and subtraction of ballast weight based on the finishing position of individual drivers in the previous race(s). The goal of the REWARDS System is to provide close ontrack competition between a diverse variety of cars in the top third of the field. REWARDS System weight adjustments are in effect for the next race in which a driver competes in the same class. The maximum additional weight is 7% in GT and GTS and 5% in Touring Car.

Weight adjustments (in pounds) are as follows:

GT and GTS
1st +2.25%

2nd +1.5%

3rd +0.75%

4th–5th 0

6th 0.75%

7th -1.5%

TC (TOURING CAR)
1st +1.5%

2nd +1%

3rd +0.5%

4th–5th 0

6th -0.5%

7th -1%

TCB (TOURING CAR B-SPEC)
1st +1.5%

2nd +1%

3rd +1%

4th +.5%

5th 0%

6th -0.5%

7th -1%

8th -1.5%

http://www.world-challenge.com/series.php?page=seriesfacts

platinumricky: Civic! mazda 3! Я U̶̲̥̅̊ kidding me?! That's way too down-market. U̶̲̥̅̊ seem to forget that BMW is meant to be a premium brand. Going too low will dilute the brand..the mini brand can cater for the 'boy racer' crowd.

There's no question that doing that will dilute the brand; however, there's no way BMW can continue to remain independent and innovative without creating more vehicles!

Why do you think Porsche started selling SUVs and Panameras? Even Lamborghini is trying to come out with an SUV! Moreover, Porsche and Lamborghini rely on VW for subsidy and/or technology. With Lambo, the cost of the Gallardo is subsidized by sharing the platform and engine with the Audi R8. The Porsche Cayenne is practically the same as a Touareg and Q7.

BMW is the only German company that doesn't, at least not yet, share its platform with other Make. Of course, you can argue that the X5 is really RR Sport but I think that they are so far apart that they're mere distant cousins. :-)

Did you see the monster Toyobaru created for auto enthusiast, with Toyota making the chassis and injectors and Subaru building the flat 4? That car took me into a Toyota and Subaru showroom, which is a rare feat for brands that I’ve never considered owning. That is the type of car BMW should be building for the entry level market!

I hate to break it to you guys, but if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is! This is the type of awoof people fall for that makes them become victims of 419.

1. Even if the fuel was refined in Nigeria and gotten for free, the cost of refining will almost be NGN 75 per litre.

2. Where is the guy going to get the fuel? In what country? And what's the cost of shipping from that country to Nigeria?

3. Is the guy going to buy barrels of crude oil in the international market?

4. Who is going to refine the crude oil? At what cost per barrel?

5. I didn’t even bother adding the guy’s profit! Or do you think that he’s in business not to make a profit? Have you EVER seen a Nigerian that generous especially someone that is unknown?

The only way the claim can be true is if he's trying to sell crude oil from illegal bunkering! I would love someone to prove me wrong with simple arithmetic because the price of a barrel of crude oil in the international market is known, the number of liters of fuel you can get from a barrel of crude oil is known, the average cost to refine a barrel of oil is known, and the shipping cost to Nigeria can be easily estimated.

Today, crude oil is $108 per barrel. A barrel of oil has 42 gallons (159 litres) and when refined, you will get about 47% gasoline, 23% diesel, 18% petrochemical, 10% jet fuel, 4% propane, 3% asphalt.

This means that in 1 barrel of oil you will get about 74.73 litres of gasoline, 36.57 liters of diesel, 28.62 litres of petrochemicals, 15.9 litres of jet fuel, 6.36 litres of propane, and 4.77 litres (or whatever the unit is) of asphalt.

Time for simple arithmetic:
$108 = NGN 16,849 which is how much he has to make to pay for a barrel of oil without including the cost of refining, shipping, storage when it gets to Nigeria, and profit.

74.73 litres of gasoline @ NGN 75 = NGN 5604.75
36.57 litres of diesel @ ?? = (somebody with actual selling price should fill in the numbers...)

There's no doubt that people will buy a fwd BMW especially since it will be an entry level model and will serve as an entry point to aspiring professionals to know the brand. BMW needs a car to compete with the Civic, RSX, Mazda 3 etc. With all the new models seriously creeping up in price, the introduction of a new model will fill in the void created at the entry level. There was a time when the 3 series was an entry level car but today, you can configure a brand new 3 series that will cost about the same as a top of the line 5 series of about 10 years ago.

Instead of a fwd platform, I would have loved to see BMW's response to the Toyota/Subaru FT-86/BRZ/FRS but I guess having the Mini platform already makes it a no-brainer economically not to build a new platform. I like the new 2L twin turbo 4 cyl engine and will buy one, even if it is a hatchback, if they put it in a small light weight rwd platform.

Let me show you how Holyfield can blow through $350M.

1. Boxing promoter gets about 1/3 = leaves $233M
2. After taxes at 38%, he's left with = $144M cash
3. He has to pay his manager and staff (assuming he paid them $20M over the years) = $124M left

Out of the $124M, he has
4. Child support payments of $500,000 per year for 11 kids
5. Several failed business ventures. Only God knows how much was lost! The funny thing is that people think it is easy to make money! If you've never made money from scratch and you suddenly wake up with millions of dollars in your account, the worst mistake you will make is thinking you've suddenly become a "business man"!
6. 104-acre house with 109 rooms. The maintenance of this house will easily be over $1M per year.
6. Lastly, there's the possibility that he only made over $248M over his career.

monalicious: Kris Angel pulled a similar stunt,in a pool.I watched the video,Ʋ could google his name.their level of witchcraft is high.

LOL...witchcraft ko, emere ni! Kris Angel's stunts are a combination of "film trick", planted spectators, great showmanship, misdirection, and pure skills.

He's standing on a moving submerged platform (boat of some kind). Look at the 2nd and 3 pictures again and you will see the wake created by the submersible. If he's truly "walking on water" the wake or splash will emanate for the sole of each foot and will not appear together as a single wake.

Also, why did you think he had what seemed like “river patrol” pick him up before crossing to the other side? I think it is because he couldn’t get to the edge of the river without people seeing the “platform” he stood on.

Plus, the guy is an illusionist.

The old argument of push (rear wheel drive) vs. pull (front wheel drive)! Which one is better? It depends on your use.

1. Need more wet traction in a low powered car (less than 300 hp)? Front wheel drive because of the weight of the engine weighing on the tires. If the car is high powered, tires and quality of electronic aids will determine traction.

2. Care only about fuel economy? Front wheel drive because it is usually lighter due to all the drivetrain components being in the front.

3. Your car has more than 300 hp? Rear wheel drive because you won’t get the torque steer and understeer of front wheel drives. Front wheel drives are trying to steer the car while also pulling the car. In a rear wheel drive, the front wheel steers the car and the rear wheel pushes (drives) the car.

4. You are passionate about driving feel? Rear wheel drive because the steering feel is unadulterated.

5. You want the fastest low powered car you can buy? Neither because the actual car, its engine and electronic aids (traction control, dynamic stability control) determines how fast the car will be.

6. You want the fastest high powered car you can buy? Rear wheel drive.


All wheel drive complicates things a little because it gives you more traction but at the expense of more weight and drivetrain losses, which means that all else being equal, it will be slower than a rear wheel drive except when wet.

It's relatively easy to do but check out the video below of a thief being spun around by a Cop using a pit maneuver. That's hardcore driving! The spin starts about the 54 second mark:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8UwuDe4ojY